Santiago East, Chile Mission

wow so this is my very last letter i am writing to you guys... well i´ve thougHT a lot this week about what to write... I'm not really sure how to explain this last year and a half. i think the most important thing that has happened is that i am not the same person i was when i left (i don't mean that I'm weird... well i guess we´ll see) but that i have become absolutely converted to the gospel. i have absolutely no doubt of the truth of this gospel!! i know with all my heart that it is true!!! i have seen the spark of the gospel grow in so many people, and to have seen them gain there testimonies of this truth!! i feel so grateful to my heavenly father for the chance i have had to come here to chile and the chance to meet so many people that have changed my life. i had a really cool experience this last week... so i had the chance to go back to los platanos. it was an experience i will never forget... i got to go back and see all the people that i love so much!! i got to see my converts and how much they have progressed in the gospel. i got to see investigators i was teaching who have gained testimonies of the gospel and have fechas to be baptized... the work is growing so strong there and me dio tanto alegría a verlo, everyone was so sweet and i was so emotional and excited to see everyone again!!! i felt like i was at home and that i had never left.. i think that was a inspired call from my presidente. i felt i was able to say goodbye and strengthen people with some last words!! i love my heavenly father with all my heart! i leave this week running hard and ready to start my next mission in life. i also want to thank all of you!! thanks so much for you support for us missionaries you guys have no idea how much it means to just hear a few words from someone!! i love you all so so much !!! we'll see you next week on tuesday!! aaaaawwwwwww!!! PS my comp is dying!!! this is her second comp she has killed in the mission, one after the other!! poor thing, but i love her!!!

so how do i start out this week??? lots of crazy things happened the week. but i think the main thing i would like to focus on was the baptism we had with fransica!! i don't know if you guys remember her, the little girl who was baptized in freezing water.. well she said she still wanted to be baptized, and for this sunday we had the date ready to go.. i think it was one of the most stressful days of my life!! so first off, we fill up the font and again the water is freezing cold, so i told hermanaorozco we were going to go to the kitchen and heat up water to pour in the font. well, we get to the kitchen and there were no matches to light the stove, so we found a calefont, a little heater that works with flames of gas, and lit a piece of paper and ran into the kitchen (mind you that one of the secretaries was helping us) we got the heater working and i accidentally blew out the one we had lit. we tried again but it didn't work. then the secretary told us it was a waste and probably wasn't going to make a difference (he was probably right) so i said a prayer in my head that franwouldn't feel the water. so time came for her to get baptized, and the whole ward was sooo excited. she was super scared even to start with, because she didn't have the best first impression... we said a sweet little prayer together before the baptism to help calm her down... but it literally took her 30 minutes to be baptized and was the most suspenseful thing I've ever seen. it was like watching mundial!! hahaha. but she was super scared but she wanted to do it so bad and she knew it was important. the amazing thing was you could really see her testimony shine in that moment because she was so scared of the water, one of her biggest fears, but she wanted so badly to get baptized. the hermano that baptized her was so patient and amazingly perfect i think it was revelation that we picked him to baptized her... en serio... and the best part was that right before she was about to go under water she said... no i cant do it.. and the hermano who was baptizing her said... fran i know heavenly father and jesucristo are here with us right now... she took a deap breath and went under.... that's all she needed to know was that her HF was there with her. incredibly, i am shocked! my!! the faith of fransica she really was more of a example for me and the faith and the bravery that she had. it wasn't just a baptism for her but also coming over her fears. when she came out of the font she had the biggest smile on her face and looked so happy and ran over and hugged me. i was a really sweet experience for me. she is amazing. i and it was cool to see her take this step and set the example for her family!! well, i don't have much time to write more, but lots of good things are happening. this week was incredible. I'm seeing miracles seriously everyday!! i love the mission.!! well, see you all in 2 weeeksahhh!! lesamo.con amor,hermanagodfrey

haber.... where do i start .. i really don't know what to say? all these weeks are blurring together and lots to do. let's see here... monday we ran into giovanna a wilberdani and it was soo good to see them because its been a long time. we invited wilberdani to church and she came!! wahoo!!!! it was awesome! i think she really likes it its hard to tell sometimes because she doesn't speak a lot of spanish but there is a family in the ward that is amazing and has completely taken her under there wing. i think she really enjoys them! i love wilberdani she is awesome! we'll see what happens. i also did division as a sister training leader this week in ñuñoa 1 with a hermana named hermana todesco ( her familia is from italy but she is american) but she is such a sweet heart. i think one of the nicest people i have ever met, and big ball of energy! we cut down a huge tree, almost fell off a wall and contacted crazy drunk people, met a guy who loves nitro circus and gave him sticker and we set up another cita with him, it was good time... before we started the day, i asked HF to help me help this hermana in anything she needed and help me be a good leader... there was a point during the day when i felt like i was the worst leader and that she was teaching me more then i was helping her.. and then came a moment were we were talking and she expressed to me her concerns and how she doesn't feel like a good missionary... that was my moment!! i know how that feels.. we had a really nice conversation and i cried without even knowing her, and i think she could really feel the love from her heavenly father and me, and i think it really helped her a lots! she kept telling me thank you... i don't know, i tried my best and i hope i was able to make her feel like a good missionary because she is!! it was a neat experience for me. other then that we have just been running all over the place. life is good! i love the mission and am trying to enjoy every minute. i hope you all are doing well and know how much i miss you all and am always praying for you!! have such a great week!!!! con amor,hermana godfrey

Hola a todos ¿como estan?so this week was just kinda a crazy week! so first of all mundial (the world cup for soccer) started and chile made it! the chileans are so freaking happy and we actually aren't allowed to go out and work when chile is playing because its very dangerous... chuuuuta... hahah. but its fun to see chile and the people so patriotic... but ya and we had zone conference this week and elder robbins for the 70ies came and talked to us... it was a crazy week with lots of reunions... but a really good week. i learned a lot. it was cool because elder robbins talked about the mission and how the mission is the university of life, and the best place to learn and prepare you for everything you will take on during your life... he also talked about the holy ghost and the importance of having a true conversions because if we don't, even a angel coming down to visit us would not be enough for us to believe if the holy ghost hasn't truly touched our hearts; and tons and tons of other stuff...but it was awesome. he is an incredible person and without a doubt you could see that he was a disciple of Christ!! so we had a really good district class this week and i just absolutely loved it. my district leader is elder gowdy (mckenzie mckeon's friend) he's awesome!! so the week before, we had zone class and i had to teach one of the parts, and i was so nervous!! and i remember before i gave the class the only thing i wanted was that i could touch someone with the message i had. so the class ended and i kinda felt dumb after, but se me paso... then we had this class and elder gowdy was like, "hermana godfrey said this and i wanted to explain it a bit more..." and he just shared about how much my message had touched him and it was such a testimony to me that you never know whose hearts you might touch and heavenly father answers our prayers!!! it was cool, but he read a story from the liahona of june 2014 by elder holland that i really liked:Latter day Saints are called upon to be the leaven in the loaf, the salt that never loses its savor, the light set upon a hill never to be hidden under a bushel. So start presenting!

If we do right and talk right and reach out generously with our words and our deeds, then, when the Savior cuts short His work in righteousness,says time is no more in this last dispensation, and comes in His glory, He will find us doing our best, trying to live the gospel, trying to improve our lives and our Church and our society the best way we can.

When He comes, I so want to be caught living the gospel. I want to be surprised right in the act of spreading the faith and doing something good. I want the Savior to say to me: “HERMANA GODFREY(place your name here), I recognize you not by your title but by your life, the way you are trying to live and the standards you are trying to defend. I see the integrity of your heart. I know you have tried to make things better first and foremost by being better yourself and then by declaring my word and defending my gospel to others in the most compassionate way you could.”

He will certainly add: “I know you weren’t always successful with your own sins and with the circumstances of others, but I believe you honestly tried. I believe in your heart you truly loved me.”

I want to have something like that encounter someday as I want nothing else in this mortal life. And I want it for you. I want it for us all. “Israel,Israel, God is calling”6—calling us to live the gospel of Jesus Christ personally in small ways and large ways, to reach out to those who may not look or dress or behave quite as we do, and then (where we can) to go beyond that to serve in the widest community we can address.

I love the Lord Jesus Christ, whose servant I am trying to be. And I love our Heavenly Father, who cared enough to give Him to us. Regarding that gift, I know that God is calling to Israel in these latter days to be more Christlike and to be more holy than we now are in our determination to live the gospel and establish Zion. I also know that He will give us the strength and the holiness to be true disciples if we plead for them.

i love it!! and that is how i want to be when i am done with this life. it doesn't matter how cool we are or how much money we have or how famous we are because at the end of the day, Christ is not going to look at us for these acts but at how we lived our lives.... so what are we focused on?

well i hope you all have a great week love you all so much 30 days, omgoodnesss..... i cant believe it!! always praying for you all!! thanks always for the support!! con amor,